New Robotruck Produced by Pony.ai And Sany Heavy Truck
Autonomous vehicle company Pony.ai is forming a strategic joint venture with Sany Heavy Truck, a subsidiary of Chinese heavy equipment manufacturer Sany Heavy Industry, to create an autonomous truck brand.
Figure 1: New autonomous truck brand.
Figure 1 shows thatthe plan is to combine Pony.ai’s “virtual driver” with Sany’s technical prowess in building heavy-duty trucks to build automotive-grade, self-driving trucks with Level 4 autonomy, which means the vehicles can drive themselves in certain conditions without needing a human to intervene. The JV’s autonomous truck product portfolio will include a mix of “new energy vehicles,” like electric trucks, and diesel-powered trucks, the company said. [1]
Annual manufacturing is about to achieve about 10,000 vans “within a few years,” in line with a press unencumber. Small-scale deliveries are set to start out this 12 month and subsequent, with mass manufacturing because of delivery in 2024.
The vans are slated to come back with “Level 4” self-sufficient riding era, which might permit complete self-driving on highways and concrete roads, in line with Pony.ai. “L4” is a part of a trade classification machine that designates complete self-driving below particular prerequisites.
Under present laws in China, the robotrucks will be unable to function absolutely autonomously.Pony.ai mentioned it simplest has trying out allows in Beijing and Guangzhou for self-sufficient vans. But the corporate mentioned it expects to function L4 vans in China as laws broaden.
Pony.ai’s self-sufficient riding machine makes use of the Nvidia Drive Orin chip, very similar to a number of Chinese electrical automotive firms that supply drivers assisted-driving era. [2]
Some, but not all, of the planned trucks will be “new energy vehicles,” a category that includes electric vehicles.Pony.ai declined Thursday to share additional information about cost per truck and whether the trucks would only be available in China.
Sany has offices globally, while Pony.ai also operates in the U.S. The robotruck mass production deal is part of a strategic joint venture between Pony.ai and Sany Heavy Truck, a Sany subsidiary.
Analysts generally expect robotrucks to take off more quickly than robotaxis due to the more uniform nature of truck routes along highways. Daily truck drives typically last for hours versus far shorter taxi rides. [3]
References:
- https://techcrunch.com/2022/07/27/pony-ai-forms-autonomous-truck-jv-with-sany-heavy-truck-in-china/
- https://huntdailynews.in/self-driving-tech-corporate-pony-ai-plans-to-ship-robotrucks-in-china/
- https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/28/self-driving-tech-company-ponyai-plans-to-deliver-robotrucks-in-china.html
Cite this article:
Sri Vasagi K (2022), New Robotruck Produced by Pony.ai And Sany Heavy Truck, Anatechmaz, pp. 356